There has been a long-felt need for a device which automatically, or semi-automatically, lowers a toilet seat, a toilet lid, or a toilet seat and lid assembly after use. Naturally enough, the toilet has presented a household hazard when users neglect to fully close a toilet lid after use. For example, children and pets have been known to play in the water the toilet bowl contains even to the point of drinking from the toilet bowl or, in the extreme, falling into the toilet bowl. By closing the toilet bowl, users prevent these hazards, by making the bowl less accessible to both children and pets.
The use of a toilet by multiple members of a household also presents some hazards. For example, male users tend to leave the seat and lid assembly in an open position after urination. When open, however, an inattentive and subsequent user might sit on the actual toilet bowl instead of the toilet seat, by acting on an assumption that the toilet is in a seat down lid up position. While never pleasant, in the case of an elderly user, such an episode might cause injury, or at least discomfort in the actual sitting and recovery. Thus, in addition to being more aesthetically pleasing, a consistently closed lid and seat, can prevent the spread of germs, possible injury, and, possibly, embarrassment to members of the household.
The number of alternate means various inventors have proposed of achieving the result of a uniformly closed toilet when not in use has borne witness to the desirability of such consistent practice of toilet lid closure upon completion of use. But, a number of these solutions have, themselves, presented users with contraptions that have been unwieldy, bulky, and visually unacceptable in an activity that is, out of necessity, both private and necessary. Users tend to avoid solutions that intrude too much upon their expectations of a simple and sanitary toilet. Large cylindrical dampers and smaller but extremely complex clockworks that can perform the simple task of closing a toilet lid and seat are available but have never gained much of a market share over the simple hinged toilet seats. Whether true or not, these large installation toilets are considered as complex and intrusive, and in practice the intrusive and complex nature outweighs any benefit achieved by their presence.
In addition, such devices are difficult to install, complex in design, and therefore often expensive. For example, devices employing sensors of various types and electric switches to close the lid and seat are believed to be considerably complex and costly. The more complex, the more perceived opportunities to foster the growth of bacteria and molds in nooks and crannies defined by the complexity of the devices. For these reasons, even if unearned, these devices are tagged with a reputation for being unclean.
Finally, toilets are one province wherein thrifty homeowners have felt confident enough to repair and even upgrade the conventional toilet. For example, Fluidmaster™, a maker and supplier of higher end internal mechanical parts for toilets has about $150 million in annual sales and 350 employees located in San Juan Capistrano in California according to a 2011 issue of Orange County Business Journal. Do-It-Yourselfers (“DIYers”) take pride and are willing to spend money on the toilet care products Fluidmaster™ sells annually including more toilet tank replacement valves than any other manufacturer in the world. But the success of Fluidmaster™ has been due to the extremely simple nature of the hardware they have sold and the simple installation of a superior product which affords DIYers a feeling of success beyond that obtained in a simple repair. Perceived as an upgrade, the installation of Fluidmaster™ parts has, for fifty years, been driven by the DIY market.
For that reason, however, nearly every of the solutions proposed by inventors has required breaking into toilet's supply line or tank requiring additional professional plumbing work placing such innovations solely in the hands of the manufacturers as complete toilets rather than as DIY upgrades and, in that market, manufacturers are not willing to adopt changes on systems that they do not view as being “broke.” Unless flush requirements had been imposed upon the manufacturers, there seemed little movement among manufacturers to adopt water thrifty mechanisms. Likewise, any innovation relating to seat installation will not likely gain market acceptance unless it is either legislated or forced by the DIY market acceptance.
The vast numbers of proposed solutions belie the need for a successful implementation that can be readily adopted by the DIY market. Robert Anderson, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,398,564, dated Jul. 15, 2008 taught a closure apparatus including a mounting bolt having an opening therethrough and a rod disposed within the opening. A spring biases the rod and a lever movable with respect to the mounting bolt. A latch release mechanism causes the latch point of the lever to move with respect to the mounting bolt to close the lid. To accomplish this, however, Anderson teaches an unwieldy lever drawn against the bolt with a substantial lever arm that may be subject to racking within the bolt.
A nonexhaustive list of other such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,336 which disclosed use of a direct mechanical connection to the toilet's flush arm as the actuating means. However, this direct mechanical connection is relied upon only to, through use of a line or cord, activate an electrical switch in an obtrusive electro-mechanical device atop the toilet bowl's ledge that suffers from the complexity decried above. Another device as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,230,336 and 6,185,754 discloses use of the mounting opening as a water conduit to an obtrusive mechanism mounted atop the toilet bowl's ledge which, in practice is subject to leaking and requires extensive modification of the workings. U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,843 discloses use of the mounting opening for an air tube to an obtrusive mechanism mounted atop the toilet bowl's ledge. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,410,766 and 4,951,323 disclose use of the mounting opening as a pathway for a flexible cable to raise, rather than automatically lower, a seat or lid; while U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,988 discloses use of the mounting opening as a pathway for a flexible cable connected to a foot pedal to lower as well as raise the seat.
In none of the above nor anywhere in the art, has a tank mounting bolt having an axial bore been sealed to a housing of a cable so as to provide a nonleaking passage for a housed cable to pass from the inside of the toilet tank to a latch at the seat and lid hinge to allow the seat and lid to close in response to axial movement of the cable within the housing. There exists, therefore, within the art, an unmet need for an automatic lid and seat closer based upon such a tank mounting bolt and cable housing.